I can’t offer anything more really except that I believe, from my point of view, that the cause is worthy and necessary. I would serve Obama-in-chief to further it. I again lament his slow response though. The communications crackdown started last Sunday with many confirmed videos of violence, brutality, death, and unlawful arrests. Bam got in the game only after the house resolution. I agree, his ‘no meddle’ tactic made logical sense, but it gave no credence to the facts that were coming out from the country at the time: first, that the protesters weren’t backing down; second, that the regime wasn’t backing down; third, that the world population watching wasn’t going to let the media back down from covering it.

Meanwhile, things just get worse and the Iranians show us only more everyday that what they stand for is the only thing real right now. It’s going to come to a choice, eventually. Obama had more options early on. Now, we’ll see!

BTW – It seems that the example of Iraq AND Afghanistan having had successful, free elections recently – thanks to American military intervention (George Bush) – has been a powerful lesson to their neighbors. The fact of it is much more effective than mere rhetoric. The young people of Iran want that, too. It’s sort of the domino effect in reverse.

And guess what? Iran had local elections in 2006 – Ahmedinejad’s party was trounced. So all this talk about how the vote isn’t rigged is a lot of camel apples. Why would the people of Iran suddenly vote overwhelmingly FOR a party they voted AGAINST just two years ago?

Ahmadinejad’s Party Goes Down In Iran Elections | Sweetness & Light
http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....-elections

About Obama’s approach, I thought it was smart at the beginning, but it is starting to look like he miscalculated. I have a nagging fear that the US military will get dragged into an intervention in Iran, which would be potentially catastrophic. But Obama threw the gauntlet down too late, after the mullahs inferred that Obama wasn’t going to do anything. Now that Obama’s thrown down the gauntlet, the only leverage we have with Iran is to intervene militarily. Maybe Iran will be Obama’s war…. We have to wait.

By the way, please don’t call me professor. Call me “Senator Boxer, ma’am.” No, just kidding. call me Bobby.

This brings me back to my last point. It’s hard to frame events in this perspective for the world forum. To even do so would create an unnecessary partisan diversion from the much needed focus on the unfolding events themselves. If the speed with which this is happening continues, there may never be a point to correctly analyze Obama’s deafening silence.

Also, I am wondering if maybe the key was having Bush in office for 8 years, then Obama for half a year. Bush believed in Mideast democracy and fought hard for it, so he planted the seed. But then Obama’s approach took away from the mullahs their usual excuse that the US is out to get Iran. I oppose a lot of Obama’s policies, obviously, but I am thinking that maybe these Iranian protestors benefited from the unique combination of a Bush Era and an Age of Obama.

But then I think it shouldn’t, because calling out one evil can detract the world forum from the ever-more-present evil by threatening to divide an otherwise united front. I digress..”

Tranquil Night, I’m fascinated with what you’re saying. Could you explain more? I didn’t catch the implication of the last few sentences.

Nevertheless there’s friction up and down the Theocracy which IS the reason why these protests are so huge. This isn’t a small, US influenced minority fighting for their freedom; this is a large, widely spread political base that – while they may have there differences – solely do NOT accept Ahmadinejad/Khamenei’s radical isolated course of action for Iran.

Reuters/AP favor developments and press releases from the regime and Obama responds to matters from this perspective as well. The entire process has been entirely too slow and is why these protesters are fatigued after 7 days of America letting Khamenei-sponsored terrorists harass, arrest, and brutalize them.

The evidence this election had been stolen was overwhelming from day one. In fact, the reason we here didn’t find these elections of much interest at first was because we knew they were illegitimate and believe(d) Mousavi to be too.

So before we do end up with another Tienanmen here, let me say this:

This is not June 1989, China; this is June 2009, Iran. This is a small, weak regime that is internationally recognized as a danger to world peace, supports terrorism, and now is openly shown to destroy the free voice of its people. Even if George W. Bush were still president with a 28% approval rating and he came to the free world with such a case for intervention, it couldn’t be denied. It is absolutely astounding (but not surprising) that President Obama will stray so far to work with radical Islam and it’s downright depressing that the discussion will never take on this tone or tenor.

But then I think it shouldn’t, because calling out one evil can detract the world forum from the ever-more-present evil by threatening to divide an otherwise united front. I digress..

As for credibility, they have none. And most of the world knows it.

In his heyday of gassing Kurds in masses, Saddam Hussein also had the people vote for President – where they elected Hussein by overwhelmingly margins.

Though Kim Jong II enjoys putting 1 out of every 100 North Korean citizens into labor (concentration camps) where many die, for crimes as petty as humming tunes from South Korea – he stages elections and wins every time.

China has local elections where other members of the communist party toe the same party lines and the people elect them. Democracy? As if.

Iran has elections for the position of President, who has only about 20% of the political power of Iran. The Supreme leader is supreme court justice and dictator rolled into one, his Islamic views dictate to everyone, and he is not electable. And all the women running, as well as anyone not toeing the Islamic line (most pesky reformists) are disqualified before the election even takes place.

The fact that Iran even had to rig this sham election between one insane stooge and a “reformist” who is not much different from Ahmadinejad (Moussavi created the terrorist group Hezbollah) is just another prime example of the fact that Iran’s dictatorship will not tolerate dissent in any form, even when the people want it. They are too close to nuclear weapons to let a Khatami into office, or anyone who would negotiate with Western governments over the nuke program.

Live free or die. We’ll see another Tiananmen Square massacre, perhaps with less blood as the internet is watching, but still as brutal as any other. And Obama, with his America-is-bad, Western-society-is-imperialistic reservations, won’t usher a peep about it, even when all hope is lost among the protesters. Iran will accuse us of meddling regardless.